Chapter 1355: The Maizer Family Tragedy

At the hotel—

"Hmm..." Robin slowly opened his eyes, his expression calm and collected. He stretched out both arms to either side, extending his body with a sharp, satisfying stretch.

"Master, did the auction go as you expected?" Pitsu stepped in from the side of the room, a warm smile on his face.

Robin turned his head toward him and stared in silence for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"I see you’re still here."

"I told you, master—I want to follow you. Follow the one destined to become the next Great Truth Chosen." Pitsu took another step forward, his tone unwavering. "Even my grandfather wouldn’t blame me for this. I’ll stay with you until the day I’m no longer useful... until you yourself cast me out!"

Robin gave a faint smile, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"I imagine your grandfather has bigger problems to worry about these days, doesn’t he?"

Pitsu’s eyes widened in shock for a brief moment, then he lowered his gaze.

"How did you know, master? Is that... one of the powers of a Great Truth Chosen?"

His voice dropped a little. "You’re right. He *is* in trouble. My whole family is..."

He took a deep breath before continuing. "A few years ago, my grandfather sent one of our family’s young messengers to tell me that war was breaking out on Planet Ceramon—between the Iron Boar Empire and the Nine Paths Empire. And that we were bound by oath to defend the planet under the Iron Boar banner."

Robin’s brow arched slightly.

"And you didn’t return to help because?"

"Because..." Pitsu looked down again, guilt flickering in his voice. "In that same message, he told me not to return. He said there was no point—because the Human Golden Army had arrived. He described them as a terrifying force that no one can stop them. They’d already seized three other planets from the Iron Boar Empire with frightening ease."

His voice dropped further. "And... he told me that a Failed Nexus oversees that army."

Robin’s eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of that term.

A "Failed Nexus"—a being who attempted a breakthrough, only to succeed partially. The result: someone more powerful than a World Cataclysm, yet not strong enough to reach the next realm. Trapped forever in between—until their injuries finally kill them.

"Sigh..." Pitsu nodded slowly. "With the Golden Army rampaging on the planet, and a Failed Nexus leading them... there’s just no stopping that kind of force."

He shook his head in frustration.

"Even if the Iron Boar Empire sends reinforcements, the Nine Paths Empire counters with reinforcements of their own—except theirs come in the form of more World Cataclysms!"

Then, a bitter laugh escaped his lips.

"My grandfather used to curse that Iron Boar emperor day and night—asking why he had to provoke a semi-centennial empire like the Nine Paths Empire in the first place! Just because they looked weakened after their war with the Twilight Spectrum Empire... but had he never heard the saying? ’A lion remains a lion, even if forced to eat grass.’"

Robin chuckled faintly, the edge of a grin playing at his lips.

"Your grandfather sounds like a wise man. So... what happened to them in the end?"

"As expected, Planet Ceramon was overrun within just a few short years," Pitsu said with a resigned sigh. "My grandfather, along with the rest of our family, had to evacuate. They fled to another planet still under Iron Boar control."

He shook his head. "But life there... isn’t exactly better."

Robin raised an eyebrow again.

"Why not? Aren’t they loyal citizens of the Iron Boar Empire?"

"My grandfather was accused as the reason for the defeat." Pitsu’s voice was quiet but heavy, carrying the weight of frustration and guilt. "Besides him, there are twelve members in our family who possess a naturally high affinity with the Minor Law of Sound—one that stems from the Essential Path of Vibration. Out of those twelve, five have already reached the level of World Cataclysm, while the rest are still in the early stages, young and inexperienced, taking their time to explore and awaken the full potential of their affinity."

He cast his gaze downward, hands clenched tightly at his sides.

"And because we had this strength... because we are

human

, the wretched commanders of the Iron Boar Empire saw us as nothing more than tools. They didn’t care about our heritage, or our sacrifice. They just threw us into the front lines like we were expendable. We were to be the first wall—the shield that breaks before the sword."

Robin raised an eyebrow, interest flickering in his eyes. He, too, wielded a sound-based law—an extension of wind. But unlike Pitsu’s lineage, his law specialized in transmission and amplification of sounds through the wind as a medium. He knew, however, that sound laws were vast and fragmented, appearing across multiple paths—Vibration being the nearest of them all.

"...My grandfather refused to gamble with the lives of our elders—my uncles, great-uncles, the ones who had dedicated centuries to climbing the ranks. He never believed in this war, never started it, and certainly didn’t want to pay the price for someone else’s pride. So, during battle, he ordered tactical retreats... surface-level engagements with gradual fallback tactics. Not because he was a coward, but because he refused to sacrifice our blood for the ego of a pig-headed emperor."

Pitsu let out a dry laugh, shaking his head bitterly.

"Of course, that decision—logical or not—became one of the reasons Ceramon fell so quickly."

He scratched his head, then held out his palms as if searching for an answer.

"What was he supposed to do, huh? Throw our entire bloodline into the meat grinder? For who? For a regime that limits how many children we’re allowed to have? For a kingdom that—whether openly or behind closed doors—accused our family of sabotaging their military power, blaming us for the deaths of uncles who were on the brink of becoming high-level World Cataclysm?!"

Robin’s eyes sharpened with intrigue.

"And what happened after that?" he asked, leaning in ever so slightly.

"...The Iron Boar Empire, recognizing the value of our abilities, allowed the Maizer family to withdraw to their inner territories. They didn’t do it out of kindness—just pragmatism. They still saw us as weapons they could use later. But my grandfather and the rest of our kin... they’ve been subjected to unspeakable pressure ever since."

Pitsu’s voice dropped, almost trembling.

"We’re no longer invited to council meetings, yet we receive direct orders to fight on some of the deadliest battlefronts. The irony? The very empire we need to bleed for treats us worse than the enemies we were meant to defend against."

He then raised his voice, the pain too bitter to contain.

"And now... rumors are spreading—whispers among soldiers and courtiers alike—that even if the Iron Boars reclaim Ceramon, they won’t let us go back. That the lands we once called home won’t be returned to us. That they’ll scatter us—separate our family and our people—planting us among their own cities, to dilute our bloodline and erase our influence!"

His fists trembled.

"...When my grandfather heard that nearly 300,000 of our people survived the war—when he learned that the Golden Army ignored them because they bore no weapons, and our cities were spared—he sighed in relief. He was

grateful

. But then came the betrayal."

He looked up, face dark.

"The cruelty of our own empire... was greater than the wrath of our enemies."

Robin was silent for a few seconds, processing the weight of that statement.

"That’s... heavy. So what’s your grandfather planning now? From the sound of it, things aren’t looking very bright for him."

"He hasn’t declared anything yet—not officially. But the last word I received from my third cousin suggests he’s contemplating two... drastic paths. Both painful."

Pitsu looked down again, as if it hurt to say it.

"The first... is to swallow his pride and beg the Human Power Consortium to offer us sanctuary. The second..."

He hesitated, voice almost a whisper.

"...is to reach out to the Nine Paths Empire in secret... and try to negotiate our return to Planet Ceramon, even if it means serving under our former enemies."